SIR ALEX FERGUSON EXCLUSIVE: FIRED-UP SIR ALEX LAYS DOWN LAW TO YOUNG GUNS.
WHEN Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo report back for pre-season training tomorrow, Sir Alex Ferguson will sit them down and ask whether they have the hunger to win trophies.Posing such a question of Manchester United's two most exciting players, who plundered 46 goals between them last season to claim their first Premiership title and Fergie's ninth in all, might seem ludicrous - to say the least.
But it is a tactic which has proved successful throughout Fergie's two decades at Old Trafford, and one that ensures his young players are not allowed to be satisfied simply by their high profiles and the millions already stashed away in the bank.
Fergie's pre-season pep talk ensures the collective desire of Rooney, Ronaldo and the rest of his young squad is never allowed to diminish, a scenario that will paint a depressing picture for title rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.
And on the eve of United's return to training, Fergie gave a rare insight into the motivational speech that he will deliver to his young charges on their arrival back after their summer break. "When it comes to the new season I never ask questions of the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville," said Fergie.
"They answer themselves. But to the ones who have won their first trophy, they need to ask themselves - will that be enough?
"If you achieve anything it creates excitement, develops you as a person and gives you the understanding not to lose and to go on and win again."
Fergie was officially back at his desk at United's Carrington training ground last Wednesday after his customary break at Cap Ferrat in the south of France, yet his work for the new campaign began as soon as the title was clinched on May 7.
Just like his former captain Roy Keane, the elation of winning a trophy never lingers for Fergie. When the champagne stops flowing and the celebrations die down, it is time to move on and focus on the next challenge.
As United launched their new kit, he said: "After you have won a trophy, you enjoy it but the next day it leaves you and the hard works begins again. You're looking for the next one, the next challenge and that is what drives the best players on."
United won the title last season playing the swaggering, swash-buckling football synonymous with the club for decades, Rooney and Ronaldo evoking memories of the brilliance of legends such as Best, Law and Charlton.
Jose Mourinho's Chelsea marched to successive Premiership titles with an approach based on ruthless efficiency rather than entertainment. But Fergie has vowed he will never permit United to go down that route.
He said: "The modern game has changed so dramatically that it can be very difficult to uphold standards. The last two years have been difficult, yet we have still played the Manchester United way and worked our way to the top of the Premier League - and that reflects the principles of this club.
"Last season we scored 83 goals in the Premiership and to score that many in the modern game is phenomenal. A few seasons before we were three short of 100 goals.
"There has been such a rise in standards in the Premiership, the bar has been raised and you saw that last season between ourselves and Chelsea. There was not much in it in terms of points. However, to score 83 is testimony to a great achievement and answers any questions that have been asked of us. What makes it even more special is that the goals were from fantastic open play.
"It really demonstrated the link between the players' excitement and the lustre of the club.
The world profile United holds gives you a certain responsibility. A responsibility to deal with situations in a professional way, in almost a perfect way. It becomes your mission to uphold the tradition of play in the right way.
"Winning the title last season was the club's greatest achievement, simply because it's a relatively new team together, and hopefully it's going to get even better because of that."
Those who thought reclaiming the title after an absence of four years - particularly at the grand old age of 65 - would herald the winding down of Fergie's glittering United dynasty, are in for a nasty surprise.
Fergie is still a driven man and hungers for further glory. The £50million addition of Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson to his squad this summer is conclusive proof of that.
And the pre-season pep talk will ensure that no-one at United, not even Fergie, is allowed to wallow in last season's title success. That is now consigned to the history books.
At United, the future is all that matters.
